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Friday, June 1, 2012

Transformers Prime Voyager Class Optimus Prime Part 1

Prime's Prime

The return of Transformers review on this blog after almost 16 months. ^^;

Contrary to their lack of appearance on my blog, I do like Transformers figures. It's just that I usually don't get them the moment they are released. I do that very often with model kits and action figures, mainly because I pay more attention to their news, on a more regular basis as well, so there's plenty of information to help me to decide whether I want to get them or not long before they actually appear in the market. ^^ For Transformation figures, the key fun part - the transformation is usually only revealed when fans review them after they are released. I often hold myself back from buying the figures right away to avoid disappointment should the transformation turns out to be too simple or too frustrating.

With that said, my first Transformer review after 16 months will be on a figure that thoroughly impressed me in terms of its transformation and overall design. ^^

This is Hasbro's "First Edition" Voyager Class Optimus Prime from "Transformers: Prime". "First Edition" refers to the company's initial wave of releases for the anime series late last year. The characters that came out in that first wave included Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee, Megatron and Starscream. Optimus Prime and Bulkhead were the only two who got both Deluxe and Voyager Class treatment.

By today, the merchandising for "Transformers: Prime" has exploded I think. XD I was visiting the departmental store the other day and there are tons of corresponding merchandises on the shelves. ^^ No more "First Edition", but Robots in Disguise and Cyberverse are among the few I saw. The merchandises from the new series have completely replaced those from the third movie it seems. ^^

I got this Voyager Class Optimus Prime as a set with Deluxe Class Arcee from a local online forum member late last year. The bundling of at least two figures as a set was quite a strange thing to me, because I remembered having to choose between Optimus Prime with Arcee and another Prime, but bundled with a Deluxe Class Bulkhead instead. Prime seemed to be everywhere in the "First Edition" releases. XD Luckily, there's no need to choose like that with the new merchandise lines anymore since all the characters are in individual releases. ^^

Anyway, I like Arcee better so I chose that bundled set. ^^

I watched the first episode of "Transformers: Prime" when it came out, and I really like it. ^^ Cliffjumper and Arcee made immediate impression, especially the former since he's voiced by Dwayne Johnson (The Rock). ^^ Then again, my favorite character is still the Boss of the Autobots. ^^ Except for the lack of a mask-less face as seen in the anime, this Voyager Class figure is a very accurate representation of Optimus Prime. ^^ The ultra-exaggerated American superhero body outline coupled with tons of mechanical details actually looks pretty good. ^^ It's not as cartoon-ish as "Transformers Animated", and that's already a positive point about Optimus Prime's design in "Transformers: Prime".

I really like the story of "Transformers Animated" by the way, but going for its merchandises is a no-no for me. ^^;

(Left) Promo for Voyager Class (?) Bulkhead.(Right) Optimus Prime and his Autobots comrades from the anime series. Of the six characters, only Ratchet was without any figure release in the "First Edition" series.

(Left) The base can be detached from the clear package.(Right) The folded instruction sheet is hidden well beneath the package. ^^

Box opens.

Front view of the plastic tray that houses Optimus Prime.

Rear view of the tray.

Stored at the bottom of the case is the display platform shown on the bottom face of the package. ^^Just a folded cardboard box forming a small platform for the Transformers figure (or any figure) to stand on. Not too remarkable in my opinion. ^^;

Autobots and Decepticons insignia on the either side of the box.

Too good to be thrown away, the package's base detached earlier on can house the display platform to be used by the figure to stand on. ^^

Plenty of mecha details molded on various parts of the weapon, including the interior of the stock which isn't easily visible. ^^

The sword is just a one-piece part made of soft rubber.

Just like the blaster, there are a lot of mecha details molded on the sword's body.

The soft rubber used for the sword is very soft indeed. ^^;

As shown in the manual, there's a designated slot beneath the blaster's barrel to mount the sword to form a bayonet-like attachment beneath the weapon, but the slot is unfortunately too wide for the sword's connector, resulting in that really flimsy connection shown in the right image. ^^;

Fortunately, thanks to the molding process, there's another slot beneath the lower barrel that can host the sword's connector. The slot wasn't designed for that purpose I suppose, so the connection is a lot tighter, which is exactly what the sword needs. ^^

The blaster-bayonet combo weapon.It would look much better if the sword was designed to be a little straighter in my opinion. ^^

Unlike the previous Transformer reviews, I'll be doing a reserve-transformation for this figure - the truck mode will be shown first in the next posting, followed by the transformation sequence. ^^ I think this sort of arrangement would make the whole review more interesting to follow. ^^